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When Karen Morgan was diagnosed with celiac disease 10 years ago - a "deathly sick" form of it - she stared it down like a good Texan. Give up favourite foods? No way!

Adhering to her pleasure principle, she became a self-taught gluten-free baker - such a good one that her cookbook, Blackbird Bakery GlutenFree caught my eye. The photos of her recipes would stand up in a chic Donna Hay food shot. She once sold her baking online but now sticks to teaching and talking.

I telephoned her in Austin to ask her how she beautified the world of gluten-free foods.

"All the gluten-free cookbooks were below par, in my opinion," she says. "They never had photos of any of the finished products because it was too embarrassing to show what the recipes looked like. Breads were like bricks, desserts ran all over the pan or were dry and crumbly. The [retail] food products weren't much better, with sandy, grindy textures.

"I was raised a foodie and I felt very patronized. Friends told me to buck up but I couldn't stand the thought that this would be my life forever."

She worked at re-creating cakes, cookies, tarts - all of it - and if it didn't look and taste as good as their wheat-based counterparts, she just kept at it until she nailed it. "I put the gluten-free cookbooks aside and didn't reference them at all.

"I needed something completely different."

She concedes, though, that much has changed and that those were the pioneer days when people with celiac disease were doing the best they could with the ingredients they had. And she's not surprised at the growing numbers of people avoiding gluten. "Our bodies can only tolerate certain levels of gluten before it becomes toxic. We can't tolerate it. In Italy, the land of pasta, the government offers subsidies to people requiring gluten-free food."

She says today's wheat contains 50 times more gluten than the wheat of 100 years ago, and people eat much more of it to boot.

What's also changed, to the relief of many sufferers, is what's available in the gluten-free world in recent years.

Local holistic nutritionist and culinary instructor Andrea Potter agrees with Morgan. "It's come a long way in the past five years," she says.

"I was gluten intolerant a few years ago. I called it a wheat hangover. I'd feel bloated and be mentally groggy and tired. I bought gluten-free breads that were like door stops. You had to toast it and then slather things on it. Now they're a lot better, not so crumbly or heavy. We do one in my class that everyone in the family will eat."

At Choices Bakery, operations manager Lisa Wagner runs two separate bakeries - one for traditional baking and the other gluten-free, to avoid gluten contamination.

"We have constant demand for more and more product in our eight stores," she says.

The gluten-free bakery opened in 1999 and back then, it was called a "rice bakery." Now, it's a different story.

With gluten-intolerant and glutensensitive people joining the ranks of celiac sufferers, there's an ever-growing number of alternative flours to bake with and satisfy demanding palates: almond, aramanth, millet, sorghum, tapioca, chestnut, arrowroot, buckwheat, quinoa, taro, teff and others. There are also varietals of them - glutinous rice flour (no gluten) is more elastic than regular rice flour.

Wagner uses garbanzo and fava bean flour for some cookies, as well as coconut flour. "Basically any grain or bean can be made into flour," she says. "We're working on changing flours around and inventing new ones. We also grind up nuts."

Choices now offers about 100 different gluten-free baked products, including seasonal items.

Professional bakers have learned it's best to combine the flours to maximize flavour, texture and stability. Proportions depend on what it is they're baking.

In North America, the go-to substitute for wheat flour began with rice flour. In place of gluten, they use guar gum (made from the seeds of guar bean) and xantham gum (produced by fermentation of glucose, sucrose or lactose).

Potter's business, Rooted Nutrition, offers alternative cooking classes including gluten-free baking. She says she can't keep up with the demand for gluten-free classes.

"The classes are over-filled. The last time, people signed on for dates have hadn't yet been announced," says Potter. "Now they can buy everything they need for gluten-free baking at places like Choices, Whole Foods and Famous Foods."

She says that at first, people followed good recipes closely. "The pioneers took it on themselves. Now professionals who understand a little more about the science and process are developing recipes. I found my pastry background helpful - if a cake fell, I could diagnose the problem. But it's still in a pioneering stage," she says.

Morgan's mission is to empower people with celiac disease or gluten intolerance and to sidestep the culinary helplessness she sees in the growing tribe of the gluten-free.

"You don't have to sacrifice everything you've known to be good. They can have a lifestyle that's about pleasure and joy and feel like they haven't given anything up."

mstainsby@vancouversun.com

Blog: vancouversun.com/miastainsby

Twitter.com/miastainsby

BLACKBIRD BAKERY SUNDAY MORNING PANCAKES

This pancake recipe can be adapted to your craving, says Karen Morgan. Add ½ cup of blueberries, bananas, or chocolate chips or a few dashes of cinnamon. You can have the dry mix at the ready by mixing it up ahead of time and storing in a cool, dry place for up to three months. When adding fresh fruit or chocolate, just sprinkle some on top of the pancake before you flip it.

- From Blackbird Bakery Gluten-Free by Karen Morgan

¼ cup (60 mL) plus 2 tablespoons (30 mL) almond flour

½ cup (120 mL) millet flour

2 tablespoons (30 mL) glutinous rice flour

2 tablespoons (30 mL) sugar

1 teaspoon (5 mL) guar gum

½ teaspoon (2 mL) kosher salt

½ teaspoon (2 mL) baking soda

½ teaspoon (2 mL) baking powder

2 large eggs, beaten

1 cup (250 mL) organic buttermilk

1 tablespoon (15 mL) unsalted butter, melted

Safflower oil cooking spray In a large bowl, combine all the dry ingredients and stir with a whisk to blend. Add the eggs, buttermilk and melted butter, and stir until smooth.

Heat a large skillet or a griddle over medium-low heat. Spray the pan with safflower oil spray. Run your hands under the faucet to wet your fingertips and then shake them over the hot griddle. If the water dances across the pan, pour ¼ cup batter into the pan; for small pancakes, use 2 tablespoons batter. Cook until bubbles form on the top of each pancake; turn and cook until golden brown on the bottom. Transfer to a baking sheet and keep warm in 200 F (93 C) oven while cooking the remaining batter.

Makes 8 large or 16 small pancakes

SOCCA (NICOISE CHICKPEA CREPES)

"These are gluten-free, high in protein and easy to make. They're delicious on their own or filled with ratatouille or any filling that you would put into a sweet or savoury crepe. "

- Andrea Potter, of Rooted Nutrition

1½ cups (375 mL) chickpea flour

1 to 2 teaspoons (5 to 10 mL) ground cumin (optional)

1½ cups (375 mL) water

2 tablespoons (30 mL) olive oil Salt to taste

Place flour (and optional cumin) in a bowl and slowly add water as you whisk. Add olive oil and salt to taste. Whisk ingredients together so there are no lumps.

Let rest for at least ½ hour. (Will keep for a few days in the fridge.) In a non-stick or cast iron pan or crepe pan on medium-high heat, add a bit of olive oil. Ladle 4 to 6 ounces (114 to 170 g) batter into the pan. Flip when bubbly on the surface and then brown on other side.

Serve hot simply with butter, or use as a wrap or crepe for all kinds of fillings.

Makes 3 to 4 servings

DOSAS WITH MASALA POTATOES

"Dosas are South Indian sourdough crepes. This versatile batter is used for many different dishes. The batter keeps well - I have used it for a week after fermenting, so I often double the recipe for quick and easy meals and snacks through the week. Store it in the fridge once it's fermented. The batter can also be frozen."

Wash and soak dal overnight or for at least 8 hours, using more than enough water to cover.

Wash and soak rice overnight or for at least 8 hours, using more than enough water to cover.

Day 2

Drain the rice and lentils. Put the lentils and rice together in the blender.

Add enough water to get it to blend until smooth. Pour this batter into a non-reactive container like a glass jar, earthenware pot or stainless steel vessel. Make sure there's a few inches of space at the top as it will rise.

Cover the fermenting container with a towel in a warm place, like on top of your fridge or on the counter if your house is warm. Between 8 and 24 hours it will be bubbly and smell slightly sour and might even smell bad. This is normal. If it is not bubbly, just give it a stir and leave it for a bit longer.

Once fermented add salt to taste (about 1/2 to 1 teaspoon or 2 to 5 mL), thin it with water if necessary to consistency of heavy cream.

Making the dosa:

Heat up a ceramic non-stick or cast iron pan and melt 1 teaspoon (5 mL) of coconut oil or ghee. (You can get authentic dosa pans in Little India.

The crepes done in other pans may not come out as crispy, but are also pretty nice.)

Ladle about 3 ounces (85 g) of batter in the centre, spread with the back of the ladle in concentric circles from the centre outward to form a thin round crepe. Pour 1 teaspoon (5 mL) of ghee or coconut oil or oil over it.

Remove with offset spatula when crisp. Cook on the flip side for a few seconds.

You could serve it, hot, with a chutney or with the Masala Potatoes (see recipe).

Toss in cumin and coriander seeds and cook until fragrant. Now add the potatoes and the rest of the ingredients to the pot with the mustard seed mixture. Cook until the potatoes have absorbed the water. Season with sea salt, garnish with cilantro if you like.

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